The Employment Situation: December 1995 — 1996-01-19

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in December and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The release of these data was delayed by the recent federal government shutdown. The collection and processing of the survey data also were impacted. There is no evidence that the estimates were appreciably affected. (See box note on page 4.) Both the number of unemployed persons, at 7.4 million, and the unemployment rate, at 5.6 percent, were unchanged in December and have remained within a narrow range over the past year. December jobless rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.9 percent), adult women (4.6 percent), teenagers (18.3 percent), whites (5.0 percent), blacks (10.2 percent), and Hispanics (9.3 percent)--showed little or no change from the November levels. (See tables A-1 and A-2.) Total employment, at 124.9 million in December, was essentially unchanged over the month.